PNoy forgot the law he signed on PWD?

Before we completely forget President Aquino’s forgettable 2013 State of the Nation address, there’s one item there that caught my attention different from the angle that the Chief Executive underscored.

At the beginning of his self-congratulatory address he cited the case of Niño Aguirre:

“Paano ba naman pong hindi lalakas ang aking loob, kung pati ang mga tulad ni Ginoong Niño Aguirre ay nakikihubog sa ating kinabukasan? Isipin po ninyo, hindi na nga makalakad dahil sa kapansanan, pilit pa rin niyang inakyat ang presintong nasa ikaapat na palapag ng gusali, para lang makaboto at makiambag sa tunay na pagbabago ng lipunan. Salamat, Ginoong Aguirre. “

(“ How can I not be encouraged, when even the likes of Mr. Niño Aguirre are helping shape our future? Just think: Though unable to walk, he climbed all the way to his fourth-floor precinct, just so that he could vote and contribute to true social transformation. Thank you, Mr. Aguirre.”)

Our reaction was Shouldn’t he have asked why the precinct for persons with disabilities was not located on the ground floor, easily accessible to PWDs, as mandated by law? Did his speechwriters know there is such a law, signed by Aquino himself last February 15?

The law is Republic Act No. 10366 which authorizes “the Commission on Elections to establish precincts assigned to accessible polling places exclusively for persons with disabilities and senior citizens.”

RA 10366 states, “Accessible polling place refers to the venue where the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) conducts election-related proceedings and where the voters cast their votes. The accessible polling place shall he located at the ground floor, preferably near the entrance of the building, and is free of any physical barriers and provided with necessary services, including assistive devices.”

Comelec issued resolution 9640 requiring the establishment of Accessible Polling Precincts in voting centers so voters with disabilities can vote in a special area on the ground floor. It required that APPs to be “free of any physical barriers” and provide “the necessary mobility, communications, visual and other forms of assistance for the PWDs.”

VERA Files that monitored PWD voting last elections said “But weeks before the May 13 elections, Comelec decided on just having 2 APPs in Cavite.”

VERA Files reported that “there were small steps to compensate for the Comelec’s failure to carry out those much-publicized plans” like volunteers assisting PWDs.

Some elections officers also went out of their way to bring the election documents to the PWDs in the ground floor even if they are listed in precincts in upper floors.

That’s why we wondered by Comelec didn’t do that in the case of Aguirre (and why Aquino and his speechwriter didn’t take note of that.)

Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said Aguirre, who voted in Pembo Elementary School in Makati, registered April 23, 2009. “He did not update his registration records to indicate he is a PWD so that Comelec could have made the effort to assign to ground floor his polling place.”

There was a lively discussion in my Facebook wall when I pointed this out at last Monday. There were some who agreed the point I raised (Jo Utzurrum: Yeah! He sees it in a wrong context. Dapat pinagalitan nya ang Comelec immediately ) while other didn’t like it that the President was criticized (Lito Cano: Maka ignorant ka wagas, akala mo naman napaka talino mo…independent body kaya ang comelec paano nya papagalitan, mag appreciate naman kayo pag may time.)

Activist Carol P Araullo took it from a bigger perspective: “Maybe more telling, Ellen, is that the President uses such heroic efforts on the part of ordinary Filipinos to exercise their right to vote, an individual citizen hoping that such exercise will lead to the election of competent, deserving Filipinos dedicated to the public welfare…but the example of the PWD is used to cover up or fudge the highly undemocratic character of Philippine elections. “

Araullo further said: “Sino ba ang nananalo sa mga halalan? Wala namang pagpipilian pulos trapo dynasties, pretend non-trapos pero ambisyong sila naman ang humalili sa bulok na sistema na wala naman silang kakayanan o intensyon.na baguhin. Yung kwento tungkol sa PWD also completely covers up the highly questionable automated system that was utilized in the last elections. Enough said.”